Between Transparency and Propaganda : A study of the Israeli Defense Forces’ use of Twitter during the 2018 Gaza protests

Abstract: This essay aims at studying the use of social media by states and state actors. More specifically, the study is exploring how the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are using their official Twitter account @IDFSpokesperson in relation to the 2018 Gaza protests. The study is utilizing a quantitative content analysis as well as a framing analysis for the analysis of the Twitter account and is having a theoretical base in framing theory. The findings suggest that there is a problem when democratic states use social media – there is a fine line between being transparent and disseminating propaganda.